~ A Compendium of My Inane Ramblings, Photos & Assorted Detritus of Life

Monthly Archives: January 2012

Saturday night my friend, Bryana, and I got together and went to the Special Projects Social Pop-Up Dinner at Aquarius Boutique. It’s been so long since I went out and had a fun girls night! Now I remember why…it takes me SO long to recover now!! But enough about hangovers and recoveries and such…on to the food!!

When we arrived, we received an artisan cocktail of roasted cumin, candied serrano, Y Vodka, agave, soda and lime. Bryana enjoyed it but I wasn’t all that fond of it. The white wine I got later was much better. I’m not a fan of peppers floating in my vodka.

At the beautiful tables crafted by Peter Zubiate (made of trees taken from the Tropicana Hotel on the River Walk during a recent expansion project) were plates of farinata flatbread, various cheeses, Wild Guajillo Honey, roasted pecans, dried fruits, citrus gelee, and cured meats.

Next, we got a fantastic salad of Lacinato kale with shaved parmigiano reggiano and a light dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. I have to be honest here…before this dinner, I had NO earthly idea what on earth Lacinato kale was. I had a vague idea about kale…sorta like mustard greens or collards but Lacinato? Nope, no clue…had to look it up. According to Wikipedia, “Lacinato kale has dark blue-green leaves, with an “embossed texture”; its taste is described as “slightly sweeter and more delicate… than curly kale.” Because of its taste, “slightly bitter and earthy”, it has been called “the darling of the culinary world”. I LOVED it. The dressing was bright and just barely there. Not sure if I could get my family on board with eating a big bowl of it every night as our Chef Tim McDiarmid of Tim the Girl Catering told us she does.

Up next was another salad, which I thought was a little odd to get two salads. Am I missing something? Is it normal to have two salads at a fancy dinner? This salad was a julinenne of root vegetables, raddiccio and radishes with fresh herbs, baby turnip greens, beet stained eggs and warm bacon vinaigrette. The julienned root veggies were turnips and they had such a great flavor. I loved hitting one in a bite. There were also little chunks of perfectly cooked bacon throughout. Those added a perfect salty crunch to the salad. The only thing this salad really needed was a brighter vinaigrette maybe just a touch more acid.

Along came the first veg course, a winter vegetable stew over cous cous. When I first read the menu & saw that Tim was serving a stew I assumed that this would be a heavy, soup-like dish. Nope, couldn’t have been more wrong. The veggies in this stew were AMAZE-BALLS. I have a serious love for cruciferous vegetables and this dish was loaded with them. I’d love to be able to get the recipe for this. I found cauliflower, sweet potatoes, azuki beans, and greens (not sure what kind). The cous cous under the veggies were, unfortunately, underseasoned, but with veggies like that, I ate around the cous cous.

The main course was a dish called Stracotto over creamy polenta. As soon as it was served (and the requisite photos were taken) the room became silent and all you could hear were the clinking of forks and the occasional “yummy” sound. Y’all this stuff was good. To compare it to roast beef doesn’t even begin to do it justice but that’s the most similar comparison I can make. Chef Tim said it took her 48 hours to make, setting her iPhone alarm to get up every 30 minutes to stir. SO WORTH IT. The polenta under the Stracotto was so creamy and perfectly seasoned. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it now!

The ultimate compliment I can give a dish is, “If it was socially acceptable, I would’ve licked the plate.” I TOTALLY would’ve licked my oh-so-chic 70s yearbook photo-like (the plates are actually from amazing chalk drawings that former Artpace resident Katie Pell did- not photos) silk screened plate that we got to take home as an awesome souvenir. Some of the photos were absolutely hilariously HIDEOUS! I loved them.

Just when I thought I couldn’t eat anymore, this little jewel came out. A dessert cocktail made with Y Vodka, cardamom rose syrup, blood orange juice, and rose sugar. It wasn’t overly sweet or overly tart. The only way I can describe it is fragrant. It tasted the way I would imagine a rose scented perfume would taste (if perfumes tasted good instead of nasty as we all know they actually do). After this dinner, I’m definitely going to have to hunt down some Y Vodka. I know it’s locally made, here in San Antonio. The cocktails served at the dinner didn’t have that telltale “cheap vodka taste” unlike some of the other local/Texas made vodkas I’ve tried lately (ahem, Enchanted Rock Vodka, I’m looking squarely at you).

Finally, a little sweet to end the evening. Guava cream cake (the light one at the top of the plate) and banana pineapple cake with dulce le leche frosting (the darker one at the bottom of the plate). My favorite was MOST definitely the banana pineapple cake. It was spicy (not spicy hot but spicy as in, had spices in it), and the dulce le leche frosting was the perfect foil. The cakes were made by Guest Pastry Chef Ayon Wen-Waldron.

We had a wonderful time and met some really neat people at our table including Tracy Rios of Formo Magazine, who is writing a review of the dinner, Andy, a fellow Aggie (we’re everywhere) and Chad, an Air Force pilot who flies the C-5 Galaxy. Talk about some fascinating dinner conversation! Chef Tim and the Special Projects Social will be hosting the next Pop-Up Dinner in March in conjunction with Contemporary Arts Month. Can’t wait!

My friend Nikki of Moxie Photo Studio, took our pictures a couple of years ago. She offered a Valentines Day mini session recently and since it’s been two years, we had Aidan’s picture taken. When did she get so mature looking? It’s like every time I turn around, she’s getting bigger and bigger.

I hang with a bunch of San Antonio area moms on Twitter who are into food in a serious way. We call ourselves #foodiemamas. About a month ago we decided instead of just talking about all of the great places to dine here in San Antonio, we should start going to them! We started getting together in December 2011 for brunch at Chef Andrew Weissman’s osteria ilSogno. This month we chose Chef Quealy Watson’s quirky retro diner The Monterey.

The Monterey serves local, sustainable, non-factory-farm foods and you can definitely tell by the flavor. When I got there at about 10:30, I hung out at the bar to wait for the rest of the mamas. I ordered a Cava mimosa and watched as the bartender squeezed the orange juice fresh right before me. I was quite impressed…so impressed, I had three! 🙂

Because they source the food locally, the menu is ever changing and evolving. Ryan & I ate at The Monterey in November for our anniversary & the menu has changed vastly already from then. All of the dishes are very creative, with fun and surprising combinations offering amazing flavors!

Once the whole group arrived, Bryana, suggested that we order some fries. These are not your Mama’s Fries! I could’ve eaten the whole plate myself (but I had more food coming so I restrained myself.) The fries were sprinkled with salt. The plate was served with two sauces, one was a creamy cheddar sauce and the other was a sweet, honey mustard with bacon. I couldn’t decide which sauce I preferred.The Monterey offers a large selection of entrees for brunch, from sweet to savory and breakfast foods to lunch foods. I tend to enjoy savory foods for breakfast/brunch so I chose the Eggs Robert, their take on Eggs Benedict. It was a tough choice between this and the BBQ Shrimp & Grits. I ADORE BBQ Shrimp but was really in the mood for eggs so the Eggs Robert won out. My friend, Emily got the BBQ Shrimp & Grits. I have to say, once I saw her picture, I was more than a little jealous. 😉 The Eggs Robert dish was fantastic. The hollandaise sauce was creamy and rich and the English Muffin was light and fluffy.

After eating, we were hanging out & chatting and up walked one of San Antonio’s celebrity chefs, Chef Johnny Hernandez! He was a judge on the first episode of Bravo’s Top Chef Texas, filmed here in San Antonio, he’s the chef/owner of La Gloria Ice House and, as he let us know about today, he’s working on several new concepts, Casa Hernan and La Fruiteria. It was awesome to get to meet him & get to ask about his experiences working on Top Chef, and his ideas about bringing some of the chefs back for the Paella Challenge at the Pearl. Can’t wait for that event! Maybe the Foodiemamas can get together for that one!

Have I mentioned that my girl is something of a budding young artiste?

Ok, ok, I know all parents brag about how talented and brilliant their kids are (and mine totally is) but Aidan really does have artistic abilities that we’re working on developing. Both mine and Ryan’s families have artists throughout (somehow it skipped me!) and we’re pretty sure Aidan got a double dose from both of our sides. Drawing and creating is her favorite thing to do. She’d rather do that than anything else.

Last summer she won a scholarship to the Southwest School of Art Summer Program and also attended a week long children’s art program at the Glassell Junior School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts – Houston. We’ll probably re-enroll her in the MFAH program again this summer.

Here’s some of her latest work. She likes to watch her favorite shows, pause the TV & then draw what she sees.

Aidan is a very fun, outgoing little girl. She talks to everyone & is friendly to everyone but, like her mama, it takes her awhile to make a good friend. She’s finally made a good friend at her new school, a little girl in another class named Bella. When we got back to school on Tuesday after the break, you would’ve thought they hadn’t seen each other in years. Hugs and squeals and “I love yous” were flying. It was so sweet, it made my heart swell.

On Wednesday I asked Bella’s Mom if she’d like to get the girls together for a playdate and she was excited about it too. They’ve only been down here since August & Aidan was Bella’s first good friend too.

So, Friday after school we went with Bella, her mom & her little sisters to the park on base to go play for the afternoon.

Tons of playground equipment, specially designed for children’s growth and development and what do the girls choose to do the majority of the time? Climb trees. I told them they were like a couple of cats. Fine going up…scared to go down. I usually had to lift them out of the trees. Silly girls. Anyway, that’s my child with her rear end facing the camera and Bella in pink behind the tree.

Two silly girls in a tree.

Bella in a tree.

My little cutie, in a tree. Between the wind, a day of school & an afternoon of hard play, her hair was WILD.

When the afternoon was over, both girls were begging to get to play again on Saturday. I’m so glad they found each other & are friends now. 🙂 My heart is full.

Aidan is in first grade, attending a school on a military base. The kids she is going to school with are a rainbow of diversity but it’s no different than any other school she’s ever attended, from the public school the last two years, or the post pre-school at Ft. Benning. Military kids just tend to be a microcosm of the nation…incredibly diverse.

Ryan & I have made a concerted effort, ever since Aidan was old enough to notice that some people have different colored skin, to tell her that God made everyone different, we’re all the same on the inside and the color of our skin doesn’t really matter. I’m pretty sure we’ve been successful. She treats everyone the same, regardless of race.

Her classmates, on the other hand, have not been hearing the same message at home.

Today at recess, Aidan tells me, two of her classmates informed her that unless she had coffee colored skin, she was NOT allowed to play in the sandbox (her favorite place to hang out during recess). My child, apparently has peach skin, and was denied entrance, so she lost it and acted out. The teacher on duty, saw only the action & didn’t hear the interactions so only Aidan got in trouble. Aidan told me she knew she should’ve ignored them or used her words but I can see where she was coming from! Geez louise! First graders banning another first grader because she’s white?

I have to say, I’m nervous about what February & Black History Month might bring. Will this further empower these students’ bad behavior? I prefer to raise my child to be colorblind, that race doesn’t matter, that God made everyone different but everyone the same. I do not want the school to undermine my teaching.

I’m a pretty easy-going person. I haven’t always been. I used to have a 2 millimeter fuse on a 2 megaton bomb but with age, parenthood & medications, I’ve mellowed out. Considerably.

But there are still a few things that make me absolutely, completely, off my rocker, CRAZY. This, my friends is one of them. I present to you, the messy detergent bottle.

SOMEONE, anyone, explain to me HOW on God’s green earth this happens?? The lid is designed to pour the excess back into the bottle, NOT all over the outside the bottle. I can’t even fathom how this happened. I had to spend 10 minutes washing the detergent bottle in the washing machine.

We started out going to see Santa at North Star Mall. The fascinator in her hair is from PunkyBear Couture on Etsy.

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Soon after was the last day of school and “Polar Express Day.” Aidan got to wear pajamas to school, drink hot cocoa, watch the movie & then have her class party.

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After school let out, Aidan and I went down to Houston for a week of baking & cooking & hanging out with Grandmommy & Papa (my parents). Aidan and my mother have made cookies together every year she’s been old enough to stand. This year they made gingerbread men & a Bûche de Noël (a traditional Yule log cake).

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This year we got an Elf on the Shelf that we named “Jingle Belle”. Christmas Eve was our last day with her as she would be going back with Santa that night. She was quite the mischievous elf the whole time we had her, from snow angels in flour to getting into the fridge & eating strawberry frosting. Christmas Eve was no different. The night before Christmas Eve she wrapped my parents’ living room, Christmas tree & stair landing with toilet paper & started unwrapping one of Aidan’s gifts. She also left Aidan a note letting her know how much fun she’d had being her elf & that Santa had lifted her magic so she could hug her just once. Aidan LOVED getting to hug Jingle Belle!

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My family opens gifts on Christmas Eve. Aidan, of course, cleaned up. She opened three for every one of the adults’ gifts.

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Homemade Gingerbread Cookies & Milk for Santa (& a note from Aidan)

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Christmas morning. Santa brought her a handmade kangaroo, a Gateway Netbook & a FurReal Friends Puppy “Cookie, My Playful Pup”. Her favorite gift was the kangaroo who she promptly named Matilda and her joey, Tilda. The kangaroo came from the Etsy shop, Handmade For Luck.

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Finally, we went to Ryan’s aunt’s house to celebrate with them for Christmas Day. Aidan got to play with some of her cousins.

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It was a great holiday! Hope you all had a great time with your families as well!